SLAVA’S SNOW SHOW

In over thirty years of reviewing theatre nothing has come close to the pure winter magic of this beautiful clown show. No pantomime, and I’ve seen and been in my share, no Dickens, not even the marvellous A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic, no nothing. Slava reigns supreme when it comes to making me feel that the Christmas season is well and truly open.

Whilst some people have coulrophobia, look it up, I have a passion for the art. A passion that is, when it is done with artistry, and this is that art done at the very highest level. Classic elements of mime, there are sounds, not words as such but grunts and gibberish occasionally, and music with lyrics that at times they lip-sync to, but for the most part this extraordinary company are mum. This of course gives the show universal appeal, an appeal that has for decades seen this masterpiece tour the world and garner acclaim.

Slava Polunin is an icon in the world of clowns but also theatre and he creates performance born of fairytales and legends. His company of fools, his chosen word, are so immaculately drilled, so divinely talented that as an audience you are allowed to see into their world, not players on a stage but a society apart from ours.

And on reading the programme notes you find that Slava is behind every element of this work, music, set, costumes… he has had a hand in it all. That too adds to the clarity of his work, each element whilst fantastical and strange seem utterly real and believable.

This was my fourth time seeing the show and yet I sat in awe, the same sense of excitement and surprise, that feeling of innocent childlike joy that I felt the very first time, and very few works of theatrical art, when seen more than once can do just that.

You will by now have noticed that I am not giving anything away here about the actual show and this is intentional. This is theatre magic that one needs to experience with no preconceptions, enter unprepared, let Slava and his fools work their magic and leave you ‘blown’ away!

Andrew Kay

12 December

Theatre Royal Brighton

Rating: